Shadows of a Halfa
by Kirani56
Summary: Danny is forced to become evil by Vlad, who threatens the lives of his family by capturing them. Sam and Tucker, unknown to this, think he's really crossed over to the dark side. Can they help him in time? Or has he really become a criminal?
1. Smoothies

**Summary: ****Danny is forced to become evil by Vlad, who threatens the lives of his family by capturing them. Sam and Tucker, unknown to this, think he's really crossed over to the dark side. Can they help him in time? Or has he really become a criminal?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom**

**A/N: ****I'm not wasting my time on creating this story! I've been working on this for _hours _to make this at _least _four pages long. Hope it's okay :D**

* * *

><p>Sunday mornings are best enjoyed with no clocks and looming deadlines. I guess you could say that the only thing that I hate about them is school coming up tomorrow. I folded my arms behind by head and leaned farther into my pillow, looking upward at the ceiling to try and savour whatever tranquility the seconds could offer. It was rare to have a day like this. Whether my enemies decided to have a day off was none of my business, but at least I had time to do my homework for the first time in months. Four hours of it.<p>

I might not even have to fight anyone for the entire day. I'm certainly not going to argue with that.

It wasn't the fact that I was a selfish jerk, but I've always wanted to have a typical day. To just lie down and sleep a few nights was enough for me. Heroes needed a break too.

I shut my eyes slowly as I let my mind wander. Mom and Dad were probably downstairs making another invention, as usual.

There was a long pause. Being lazy wasn't really one of my strong suits. And though I had half a mind to do it, I rose up from my bed and stretched.

"Going ghost!" I exclaimed playfully, raising my arms up. A familiar flash turned me into something more wild. Grinning, I pulled open my window and leaped out, free falling from the second story. The breeze felt good against my face, and at the last possible moment, I curved skyward into the waiting clouds. Closing my eyes once more, my sense of direction began to change when I spied the organised aisles of the town grab my attention. I let the sun shine on me as I began to traverse the streets of Amity through the air.

I heard a woman shout as I zoomed past. Crowds of people began to look upward. Everyone cheered and waved and I smiled heroically and waved back. Nothing wrong with boosting the ego. Soaring over the city was always exhilarating anyway. It didn't take long to patrol the area once (safely concluding that there weren't any ghosts out) before landing with a soft thud inside an alleyway. I transformed by letting the feeling of warmth overwhelm my body and changing me back into that normal Danny Fenton. I strolled out into the streets and scanned the area.

No ghosts. So far so good. I could even have stopped by the Nasty Burger if time allowed.

"Hey, Danny!" A voice called, suddenly interrupting my thoughts. I glanced around and spotted Sam riding up in her engine-powered scooter with Tucker following just behind. They stopped and parked, using a foot to balance them.

"Hey, guys." I greeted. "Nice to see you both here. How's your day going?"

"Pretty fine, if I get a say in this." said Tucker as he gave a bright grin. "No ghosts out today."

"Yeah. Thanks for the brief reminder." chided Sam, looking a lot less cheerful than usual. "None have showed up today, so I'm kind of getting suspicious lately. Call me a worry wart, but I really don't have a good feeling about today."

"Chillax a little," snorted Tucker from behind. "You worry too much. Can't you take a break like the rest of us?"

"Tuck's right," I agreed. No way did I want this day to be wasted worrying about something that didn't need to be worried about.

Sam made room for me on her scooter. "Well...if you guys say. Hop on. Why don't you come to the Nasty Burger with us? I heard they made a new flavor up for sale."

"Sweet! We'd totally be the first ones!" cheered the techno geek.

I blinked at them before smiling. Mind readers, these guys are. The best ones, at that.

Tucker tossed me a helmet in response. I grabbed on to Sam as she revved up the engine, lurching the scooter forward. We weaved around the streets so quickly; it didn't take long until the three of us arrived at the Nasty Burger. We parked the vehicles up on the side of the building and walked on inside. The second we entered, I froze at the door. The three of us looked down line of people. We should have suspected that a new flavor equaled a long line. It seemed to go on forever.

"Why couldn't they have more than one register..." sighed Tucker, taking the next available seat nearest to the front door. Sam seemed to grin.

"Okay, Tuck!" she concluded, clapping her hands to snap us out of our daze. "You wait in line while Danny and wait by the table."

"_What_?" he argued. "The line's, like, an hour long!"

"You said you were treating." She laughed, dragging me with her. I dumbly followed. "Too bad. But hey. You get first dibs on the drinks."

Tucker widened his eyes in realization and smirked.

"Don't get any bright ideas." I said finally, pointing to him menacingly while narrowing my eyes. Following Sam, we sat across from each other.

"So you haven't seen a ghost all day?" said Sam, her voice clear despite the commotion inside the restaurant. "That seems a little too far fetched if you ask me."

"Maybe you need to calm a little, Sam," I addressed crossing my arms. "I'm enjoying this time off."

Sam sighed quite audibly. "You're going to regret those words. And this time, I'm not going to help you out if something comes up."

"Fine by me. How would you know, anyway? You don't have to juggle grades with ghost fighting."

"Believe me," she said exasperatedly. "I've had my share with family problems and ghost fighting. But I never said that. Knowing how you feel like. I just said you might regret those words. You don't know if they'll attack when you think otherwise."

"Maybe, but maybe they need a break too?" I argued. "Villains and heroes need a vacation every now and again."

"I suppose."

Oddly enough, thirty minutes went by with less banter before Tucker approached us with a tray of smoothies in his hands.

"See, Tucker?" laughed Sam. "Waiting in line didn't take an hour, did it?"

Tucker had the same gleam in his eye when I last left him.

"Nah, but I don't mind having to serve smoothies to the lovebirds at table one. It seriously doesn't fit well with me in the picture."

"_We are NOT lovebirds!_" stated Sam and I at the same time. Tucker chuckled. I stole a smoothie from him from under his nose. Chugging down the new flavor (which had kinda banana flavoured after taste), I stared out the window. My inside wanted me to be as serious as Sam was about today, but I couldn't bring my heart into it. No one likes their perfect day to be postponed. Me especially.

My gaze turned to the two friends squabbling at each other about their food categories. They needed this vacation more than I did too.

...

Something vibrated in my pocket that interrupted the conversation and I almost choked in the middle of drinking.

"I'll never get use to that." I muttered as I dug into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my cell phone. The screen read that I missed a call and was left a voice mail from Jazz.

Jazz?

Now that was strange. Why would Jazz call me so early in the day? If any ghosts came nearby, she could handle them herself. Or at least Dad would. The alarm would have went off at the very least.

I dialed the voice mail for an answer.

_"Danny! We're being attacked back at home! _Please _get_ _here_!_ We need you. Vlad came over and he suddenly just-!"_

My heart sank as I heard something drop on the other line. The phone switched voices on me and the grip I had on my smoothie loosened as it plopped upright on the table. I didn't care.

_"Hello, little badger. You know very well who this is. Listen to your sister and come to back to your house if you would like to see your family again. As Phantom, of course. Wouldn't want to scare your parents when you come home human, right?"_

"Danny?" asked Tucker uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

_"And please tell no one of this. Utter a sound and I will show no mercy."_

I had to control my hands to keep from dropping the phone before I clicked it closed. My friends looked at me with a serious expression. I gave a weak smile.

"Sorry guys," I forced, getting up from my seat swiftly. "I gotta get home fast. Can you drink the rest for me? Thanks!" I dashed for the door and I almost yelped when Sam grabbed my wrist.

"What's going on, Danny?"

...

What was I supposed to say?

"Well…" I tried to explain, reaching into my brain for a quick response. "Box Ghost."

Sam relaxed and released her grip on my hand. She put on a smile. "Told you that you were going to regret those words. Go get 'em, tiger."

I didn't have enough seconds to spare to bid farewell properly. Exiting, I ran around to the back of the Nasty Burger and made sure no one was watching me as I got into position to transform. White rings traveled up my body once more as I rose into the air and raced home.

...

Why did Vlad have to ruin my perfect day? He would probably be one of the ones urging for a break for once too. And why also couldn't this have been done while I was at school? I could have at least skipped a boring lesson or two! I clenched my teeth and forced my body to fly faster. I didn't stop until I turned up to my house.

"Where are you, Vlad?" I called out angrily, phasing into the room and landing softly on the carpet. The second feet plopped on the floor, something pricked my foot and I twisted into the air to look around. The furniture was completely out of whack. Some of the glass on the picture frames littered and the couch was growing haphazardly out of the wall alongside the table and chairs.

Any other comments eluded me as heavy force grabbed my throat. I thrashed, and it pushed my neck downward. I grabbed the hand of whoever was strangling me. Expectantly, Vlad. He chuckled with amusement as he easily phased us a level lower where I spotted my parents and Jazz.

Inside a cage at the corners of my eyes.

"Danny!" called Jazz in relief. The elder man made a gun with his index finger and thumb. Without much effort at all (and even looking at me the entire time actually), he pointed his aim at the cage and missed to startle her. The shot was too far off to have actually been considered good. That wasn't exactly Vlad's style.

"Why you-!" I started, gripping my hand tighter on his occupied hand to keep him from moving. Another hand charged up a beam. A quick second too slow. I grinned, letting it at his face, knowing he couldn't avoid the blast. He was sent sprawling backwards into the ceiling; a delayed yell and an explosion just following.

Once free, I rose off the ground to see what the smoke left behind. A moment later, Vlad calmly emerged from the hole above and gave a smile. I tensed and put my fists up in defense.

"Very good, Daniel!" Plasmius clapped as he floated down dangerously. "You're actually starting to get better. Maybe even as good as me, hmm?"

My eyes flared as I charged up another beam meant for him.

"I am _nothing_ like you."

The blast missed. And before anything else, Plasmius held up a hand.

"Ah, ah, ah. We don't want the spectators to get hurt, now would we?"

The cage. Swiftly turning my attention to the left, my family was surrounded by a circle of Vlad's clones. My first instinct was to jump and attack, but the split second of distraction made a hand yank me backward. My body was sent head first into the brick wall. My ears rang when the wall hit my skull.

"Ugh..."

I stood up shakily, and opening my eyes was probably the worst ideas I could have possibly done at that instant. Double vision. I helplessly stared at the ghost as he came up and grabbed be by the collar.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," the voice of my Mom advised over the ringing. "But you need to defeat this creep, Phantom!"

"What she said!" my Dad followed after. "Get us out and we promise not to rip you apart molecule-!"

"_I get it!_" I hissed, rubbing my temples. Not enough time for rambling? Doing a swift uppercut to his chin, I distracted the original Vlad long enough to fly past him. I zoomed over to the clones near the cage and defeated each one, all fading from existence. I curled my fists as I finished off the last of them and turned to the real one. Surprisingly, he threw his head back in laughter.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, inching closer. Vlad pulled out a switch from behind his cloak and pressed a button. Jazz's piercing scream spread across the entire lab, making the hairs on my neck stand up on end. Panicking, I spun around to see what happened. Mom and Dad had a shocked look on their face, catching Jazz just before she fell. The three of us shot a poisonous look at Vlad.

"_WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" _All of us shrieked. I was tempted to use the Ghostly Wail. The billionaire simply laughed to himself.

"Nothing, really." He mused. "I just gave her a little shock…but back to the problem at hand."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you want with me?" I growled. Vlad bent over to my ear and whispered.

"I know we've already had this discussion, but...become my son," He promised. "And I _might_ reconsider my actions."

"This again?" I roared. "Never. In a million years." Backing off, he merely pressed the same switch again, this time shocking my parents. They fell forward too, bending over in pain to bear it. I was sure my teeth were cracking as I tried to keep my hands from shaking in anger. That switch he was holding was the only thing that kept me from beating up this monster and freeing my family.

"What do you say?" offered Vlad again. Right before I was about to make a comment, a small and weak voice called from behind.

"No…Danny…"

Widening my eyes, I turned around once again to see Jazz, barely rising from her fallen form, and holding on to the end of the cage for support with Mom and Dad helping her. Vlad rolled his eyes and almost began to press the switch again before I smacked it out of his hand.

"…I'll do whatever you say. Just stop."

Vlad smiled. I didn't stop him from grabbing the switch.

"I knew you'd see things my way, Daniel."

I looked down sorrowfully at Jazz and she looked back with pleading eyes. I gave Vlad a dirty look.

"On account that you don't press that switch again."

Vlad put his hands up innocently. "Oh no! That would be out of my character!"

I didn't want to look. The sight of my family turned my attention away. Mom and Dad gave me a surprised look, probably because they haven't ever seen me up close in ghost form. Perhaps it was the first time. I ignored their inquisitive whispers to each other. Now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" I said to them. "I-I'll promise to get you out soon." I stuttered. I thought that they would reply, but they instead nodded miserably in agreement and returned their attention to Jazz.

And in that one day, I became evil.

* * *

><p><strong><em>-Posted July 16, 2011<em>  
><strong>

**Geez... I promise to add a little more action onto this next time. Thanks for reading and please leave a review to tell me how I did!**


	2. Wits

**Another edit. Maybe it'll sound better. **

* * *

><p>Guilt always gnaws. It makes the stomach twist and turn until it can't be held in anymore. It starts from the inside and tears apart.<p>

Molecule by molecule, as Dad would say.

The only sound that filled my ears was the reminiscence of Jazz's scream and my parents in the cage helpless. It felt like that scene was carved into my memory forever, no matter how hard I tried to forget it.

I've failed as a hero. No hero would let this happen so stupidly. At least dying for them would have been more meaningful.

Why Vlad would hurt Mom was an issue that had been bothering me since I got here. He loves her. Seeing her like agony like that is not normal, even for him. I guess it's just so easy to say that this was all a dream, but the luxuries and riches of Vlad's mansion only deepened the pain and brought me back to reality. I'm too afraid to admit that this was as real as it gets.

_It's your fault._ My brain ridiculed. _ Someone was supposed to be there for them. You were supposed to help them, idiot!_

"Hello, son." Vlad's voice said, breaking up my thoughts once more as he entered my 'bedroom.' "I have something for you."

I didn't rise from my laid position on the couch, nor did I open my eyes. All I wanted was the creep to go away. I wish he didn't have the guts to show his face again.

"What do you want?" I grumbled, not daring to reply with a sarcastic remark, for fear of my family suffering even more from a stupid comment.

"Sit up." He commanded firmly. Obediently, I sat up and opened my eyes like he requested. The man calmed and took a seat next to me. I griped the bottom of the seat tightly to control my anger. Even a simple 'I hate you' was out of the question.

"That's better." He laughed, patting my shoulder. My nails went deeper into the sofa when he touched, but I continued to look downward at the floor to avoid having to look at his sickening eyes. It somehow seemed to be more interesting than listening to him. He tapped his foot impatiently and it took me a while to look up at him. He gestured towards the table.

A package, which looked like a casket for earrings, was on the placed in the center. It felt like my hands were pulled, forcing me to open the chest. My heart skipped a beat. I recognized the object inside.

It was one earpiece to a set of Fenton Phones.

"Surprised?" he said as he smirked. "It's so that you and I will be able to communicate during your assignments."

"Assignments?"

He smiled but didn't reply. Inhaling deeply, I tried to work out a reasonable answer, but my mind had a different say in every response.

_What do you expect me to do now, you creep?_

"When I agreed to be your son," I stated calmly.

_You can't force me to be evil. It will never work._

"I did _not_ agree to become as evil as you."

_I'm only doing this because of my family. You're just a jealous old man that doesn't have a wife._

"I'll do whatever you say, but you can't force me to follow in your footsteps."

Irritated as if he heard my thoughts, Vlad stood up angrily and slapped my face. My neck jerked sideways and I clenched my jaw when he lifted my chin up meet his gaze.

"Listen here, boy," he hissed. "I _own_ you now, which means that you have no rights in this household. You are to address me as 'father' and treat me with respect. Any tasks that fail to be completed when I request are to result to severe punishment."

I froze in place as the horrid switch was pulled out of his coat. He grinned cruelly and waved it around harmlessly.

"You are too careless, Daniel." laughed Vlad, putting it away. I relaxed enough to breath normally.

No wonder he didn't have any kids.

"Understand?" He demanded.

"Yes." I hissed though my teeth.

"Daniel."

"Yes,_ father_."

With that, Vlad stormed out of the room and slammed the door, causing a painting nearby to crash onto the floor. Groaning, I threw myself back onto the couch and put a pillow over my head.

"You did it now, Fenton." I scolded to the pillow. Just by making his temper go up, he wouldn't dare tell me what 'assignment' he's talking about. What were they? If I hadn't been so stubborn, then I might have learned a thing or two. My guess is that he'll probably tell me when he cools down.

That's the thing with weird billionaires. They tell explain their entire plan when they get too cocky. I couldn't get it out of my head that the guy was _literally_ taking away my freedom. Out of anything, I'd rather die than accept him as my new father. Of course there was no way out of this one. If there was, I'd never have the risk to do it. I'm just a coward right now.

_Looks like I'm forever doomed to serve the man I hate most. _

"Respect…" I spat out. What does he know about respect? He doesn't even_ deserve_ the tiniest bit of respect. He could rot in this mansion for all I cared. If he was lying on the streets helpless, I'd spit on him and walk away with a smile on my face.

But somewhere and somehow, a light bulb lit up in my brain.

…_You are to address me as 'father' and treat me with respect…_

I paused. Vlad wanted respect, right? He didn't say anything about honesty.

The gears clicked in my head as I tried to devise a plan. Vlad was definitely not a force to be reckoned with. From my experience, he was devious, clever, and wicked, capable of destroying the world if I wasn't there to stop him. Compared to him, I was nervous, clumsy and clueless. A loser, as Dash would put it.

And _because_ I was a loser, it should be easy to deceive him. It's already apparent that his pride gets in the way of his judgment, meaning that he already thinks he may have won. The only advantage in this situation is that he underestimates me, so did that mean I could, maybe, trick him into believing that I gave up and turned evil?

No. That would be preposterous. Vlad wouldn't fall for a hoax like that. He'd see that coming a mile away.

I sighed. I guess I'm gonna have to play along with whatever he says. A little pleased with myself, a small smile crept its way onto my face. The idea wasn't a bad one. I could have thought of worse. This wasn't over, yet. When the time comes, I hope I can be the one to take him down.

* * *

><p><strong><em>-Posted July 20, 2011<em>**

**I'll give you an insight on this situation: Vlad took the cage through the ghost portal to his mansion (with Danny's unwilling help, of course). Just to bear in mind ;)**

**Is that better? I hope it is! :)**


	3. Danny?

**I updated! :D**

**Hmm... I'm making some progress! And t****o spice things up a bit, let's change the point of view to: Sam Manson!**

* * *

><p>The school bell indicated the start of class, and Danny still wasn't here yet. My ears automatically began to muffle out the sound of Lancer's monotone voice when he began the lesson. Where could that clueless blockhead be off to? It's unlike him to just skip school. If he was out fighting, it wouldn't take him this long.<p>

Not bothering to even try and interpret his horrible representation of Romeo and Juliet, I looked at Tucker, who was chewing on the eraser of his pencil worriedly, scribbling in journal when he had the chance.

"He's gone again." Tucker sighed to me, crossing off another day off in his agenda. "He hasn't been coming to school since last Wednesday. He hasn't been on 'Doom' for ages, either."

"Tell me about it." I huffed. "I've been trying to contact him on his cell and email. Nothing. Not even from Jazz."

"Mr. Foley and Miss Manson."

The two of us shot our heads forward to look at the teacher, who had an annoyed look on his face. "Would you care to tell me where Mr. Fenton is off to _this_ time?"

Tucker and I shared glances.

"He's, uh…" began Tucker as I tried to tunnel through my own brain for a good explanation.

"On vacation." I broke in. "To Europe. Had to leave early and wanted us to tell you before he left."

Lancer raised an eyebrow at us. "Oh?" he inquired. "Where to?"

"He mentioned going to visit some family in France and England." lied Tucker.

"And when does he plan on coming back?"

"Another week or so." I answered quickly. We smiled innocently as he examined our expressions. Satisfied, he returned his attention to the board.

"As I was saying…"

I let out a sigh of relief and Tucker regained his cool.

"We meet up at Danny's?" I whispered swiftly, not wanting to catch Lancer's eye again.

"Count on it." He replied.

A few moments later, a sudden broke our discussion in class. The ghost alarm blared loudly in the class room, smashing our eardrums.

"_Everyone out_!" Lancer screamed, running out the door. The whole class followed up in the shouting, pushing each other to get to the door first. By the time the yelling died down, Tucker and I were the only ones left in the classroom. We didn't need to rush out. The halls would be clear in less than ten seconds flat.

"If Danny's not out there fighting whoever it is we're fighting," Tucker swore as the both of us stood up from our desks and ran out into the hall, pacing towards our lockers. "Then he's going owe me for that smoothie!"

I yanked open my locker and took out a thermos and the Fenton wrist ray. I tossed Tucker the thermos and ran with him to the front door. The two of us were lost for words when we swung those doors open.

The ghost we were about to face was famous about to become infamous.

"_Danny?_"

Our friend laughed evilly, shooting at the groups of students that were panicking in sight of him. My heart sank when I saw a ghost shield that Danny created, surrounding the perimeter of the school grounds. There was no way in or out. Because of its transparency, I spotted a few GIW tanks trying to ram their way in. No luck.

Tucker reacted before me, running out into the middle of the field and shouting to get Danny's attention. I tagged after him.

"_Danny! What the heck are you doing, dude?_"

He didn't seem to hear him, but Tucker continued to call. The shouts of students were a little louder this time, freezing me on the spot when I recognized the voice that towered over everyone else's: Dash.

I stared in horror as one of Danny's blasts grazed Dash's jacket. The terrified teen shrieked when the instant pain came upon his shoulder, causing him to stumble forward and smack the ground. Danny landed and walked calmly towards him while he was trying to scramble away. The students, which were once running in fear, stared stunningly at the figure that was previously the greatest bully of the school.

Tearing my eyes off the scene, I looked at Tucker, who was nudging me roughly.

"Try and get his attention." He whispered. "I'll get the other students to safety."

I nodded shakily at him while dashing to the rescue of the trembling jock. Danny was just about to summon up another beam and fire when I stepped in front of Dash and spread my arms out wide to avoid him getting hurt.

"Stop this, Danny." I stated calmly to him, trying to get the fear out of my voice. How could he do something like this? Where was the Danny that was always smiling and blabbering on about wanting to be an astronaut?

Dash used the extra time to run away and the ghost boy stopped forming his beam, meeting my eyes.

"Get out of my way, Sam." He growled. "I'd be wise to move before I hurt _you_ too."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what happened to you."

I had to get some answers out of him. "Are you being possessed? Do you even know what you're_ doing_?"

Danny bared his teeth at me and put his hands together, charging up the beam that he temporarily made up earlier. No matter how much I wanted to run away from him, I stood my ground.

"It's _me_, Sam." He said, lifting his glowing hand in my direction. My legs refused to move as time slowed. The glowing mass of ectoplasm was headed right for me.

_What was he doing?_

"SAM!"

Tucker appeared from the corner of my eye and dove, wrapping his arms around me tightly as we jumped out of harm's way. Before my vision blurred, I was able to see the blast hit Tucker in the arm. He screamed in pain as we fell on the ground and skidded on the grass. When we at last stopped moving, I sat up and immediately and rushed to Tucker's side. There was a huge part of his arm that was bleeding heavily, pieces of his skin that was eaten away. Acting rapidly, I snatched the beret off his head and put pressure on the wound. He winced, but solemnly kept his attention at Danny behind me. I turned to Danny, expecting a reaction from him.

His eyes widened at us as he backed away from us slowly. He twisted into the air and flew off before I could even utter a sound. The shield around the school subsided as he went off into the clouds. I was sure I saw sparkles of tears forming in his eyes in the sunlight before flying off. My eyes never left the spot where he disappeared to until Tucker grabbed my hand tightly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm f-fine, Tuck." I said, my teeth clattering from looking at the blood all over his arm. "I'm…so sorry this happened to you. I should have moved, but..."

"Don't mention it." He laughed as he sat up. How he was even able to keep a smile on his face was incredible. Unsure of what to do, I changed the subject.

"The others?"

"Inside. I told them to cover the windows so they wouldn't see anything."

I couldn't help but give a weak smile.

"Can you stand up?" I asked him. He leaned on me for support, but was able to hold his ground.

"I think so." He said, attempting to walk. "Just one thing though."

"What's that?"

"Can we go to your house?" he pleaded. "You know how I feel about hospitals."

"Fine. I'll get some of my nurses to fix you up. We'll talk about this when you get that arm healed.

* * *

><p><strong><em>-Posted July 20, 2011<em>**

**Well, well, well...Danny turned evil for a while, didn't he? :O**


	4. Answers

**Due to some difficulties, I have decided to change the plot of this story. Trust me, it's a LOT better than my previous one.**

* * *

><p>My eyes watched tiredly at the slow rise and fall of Tucker's chest. His arm was doing a little better now, it being patched up and all. No matter how much I wanted to wake him up and apologize, I let him rest. He needed it.<p>

I put a hand on my forehead and closed my eyes to concentrate on what just happened a few hours ago. There were so many questions in my head, but one stuck with me the entire way: Why could Danny, the savior of Amity Park, do something like this?

Could it be Freakshow again? It couldn't have. He would be making Danny loot all the banks in the city, not terrorizing its citizens.

The image of the attack was still fresh in my mind. I could still remember everything, like it just happened seconds before. The way he spoke to me…it didn't sound like he was hypnotized into doing anything.

_It's me, Sam._

Nothing I could prove could say that he was lying to me. He spoke through his own will.

"…Sam?"

I fixed my attention to Tucker, who fluttered his eyes open. The boy rubbed his head before sitting up.

"I feel all drowsy…did you drug me or something?" he asked, his voice slightly slurred.

"Yeah." I replied truthfully. "You were practically screaming when they were going to inject you with a simple anesthetic. You've been out for three days."

Tucker widened his eyes in shock. "_Three days?_"

I laughed. "Nah. Only for a few hours."

Tucker calmed his expression and threw himself against the pillows. "I hate you so much, you know? Now I know how Danny felt when I said that."

I chuckled as he gave a pouting expression. The happiness died in both our faces when we realized that Danny's name had been said. Neither of us said a word for a while until Tucker interrupted the silence with a sigh.

"So…about Danny?"

"Yeah." I said again sadly. "I tried to get some answers when we confronted him. He didn't seem to be in a trance or anything. I think he was telling the truth."

Tucker rubbed his temples as I turned my gaze to the floor. I was kind of relieved that Tucker still believed in Danny, even after what he did to us. He was as true a friend as I was. There wasn't much to say about him. We were too stunned to even think about the situation.

"There's also another thing that's been bothering me since we were battling back there." Tucker said, turning to me. "Danny's parents didn't even show up when we were fighting. Not even once. They _always_ show up when a ghost alarm goes off, especially when it's public enemy number one, Danny Phantom."

"At least we're on to something." I sighed. "I'm just a little…shocked that he would do something like this."

Tucker nodded sorrowfully. Near my lampshade was a remote to my TV and I snatched it. The television flashed on as I surfed through the channels, stopping when we got to the news.

_Breaking News! Danny Phantom attacks high school._

"Oh, man." Tucker groaned. "This can't be good."

I turned up the volume.

_At 10:30 PM, Amity Park's hero, Danny Phantom, was sighted attacking the students at Casper High school, leaving some students injured. Due to safety warnings from the Department of Education, schools district wide are advised to be shut down for the next week. Jack and Maddie Fenton, two of Amity's ghost hunter specialists, did not arrive to the scene, and this absence has been causing some paranoia among the citizens._

_Guys in White officers investigated and reported that the ghost was intending to destroy the school, until two unknown teenagers stopped the assault as shown in this surveillance video here._

A video began to play, showing the entire scene of the panic that we just saw moments ago. The camera was located just above the doorway where Tucker and I came out. I bit my lip as the camera caught our every attempt to stop Danny, even the section when Tucker came and rescued me. Tucker didn't flinch when he saw the whole clip. Luckily, the camera didn't have the best sound, so when it got to the part where I was standing in front of Dash, the camera was fizzing so loudly that no one couldn't understand us. Tucker and I shared glances as the screen once again returned to Lance Thunder.

_Here is our own Mayor Masters discussing this case to the public._

I narrowed my eyes as Vlad made his way up the podium. Of course, we were prepared to hear for what he had to say about this. The both of us would never believe a single word that stated against Danny.

_Citizens of Amity Park. As your elected mayor, I would like to consider putting the town on high alert for the menace known as Danny Phantom. He is no longer considered a hero, but another threat to the community. I advise for all public facilities to be closed down until this monstrosity is settled. The city will be on watch and will capture the ghost child once and for all._

The two of us snorted as the rest of the crowd cheered wildly. Whatever scheme he was coming up with, I was sure that it had a relation to Danny's change in attitude. We couldn't blame the parents for being supportive of Vlad. Their children were just attacked, so they had a right to be mad. The screen switched back to Lance as he was about to make the closing statement.

_Now back to our− _

One of the Guys in White agents nearby shoved the news anchor to the side and grabbed his microphone.

_Those two teenagers are to be captured immediately and delivered to our headquarters to be held for questioning. Operatives will be out in the streets for any citizen who is willing to give their whereabouts-_

Tucker desperately juggled the remote in his free hand as the television flickered off. We went silent and looked at each other.

"…we are so dead." I choked out as I ran to the only exit and locked the door. Sounds of people were heard through the doorway. Already? How fast could they find us?

I face palmed. Of _course_ we would be home!

"Tucker." I hissed. "I know you're arm is broken and everything, but we gotta move!"

Tucker saw the alarm in my expression and wasted not a second to leap out of bed. The instant his feet touched the ground, a look of pain washed on his face as he clutched his injured arm. I winced. The sudden movement must have been too hard on him.

"Sammykins?" My mom called through the doorway. "Can I speak to you for a moment? There are a couple of young men here that want to see you."

I didn't dare reply as I ran to Tucker's side to aid him. Underneath his bed were a couple of extra bandages when he had to change them. I crawled under and seized them for later.

"What are we going to do?" Tucker whispered as he crouched, trying to control his breathing from the wound.

"There _is_ another way out." I said, looking up at the window. Tucker saw my plan when I pulled out the emergency ladder from under the bed out as well. There was a knock on the door, rushing me to open the window.

"Sammy?" Mom called.

"_What do we do when we get out_?" Tucker asked as I helped him go down the ladder first.

"To Danny's." I replied as I shut the window. "We need some answers."

* * *

><p><strong><em>-Posted July 20, 2011<em>  
><strong>

**Hmm... this did not end well...**

**Poor Tucker, having a broken arm as well as hiding from the law :(**

**Please review! I'd like to see how I'm doing so far!**


	5. Revelations

**I am sorry for not updating in forever! My parents grounded me yesterday and, somehow by a miracle, seem to have forgotten that. I decided to take advantage of this time, so if I don't update in a while, it's my parents fault.**

**Heh, let's continue!**

* * *

><p>In the real world, memories can never be forgotten. I might as well give up fighting them. It wouldn't work anyway.<p>

If only Tucker − no − If _I _had been more careful, then I could have avoided this. When I shot that beam, I wasn't _meaning_ to hit Sam…if Tucker hadn't jumped in the way, that is. I'm completely positive that those two must hate me forever for doing that and would probably want to kill me. Literally. And I wouldn't blame them for it. If either of them saw my face again, I have no doubt that they'd want to strike me dead then hunt my ghost through the ends of the Ghost Zone. They had every single right to despise my presence.

It's my best guess of what they would do, since I want to do the same to Vlad anyway. Being here cooped up in his house like a caged animal is not really the best way to spend the day. I'd rather just phase out of this stupid mansion and fly home all willy nilly and turn myself into the government right now. I was considered a wanted criminal if I flew out, so what's the use in hiding?

So, listing the facts: My parents (and Jazz) are being held hostage while I'm forced to be threat to my own town. All this when my best friends hate my guts. What a great position I'm in.

I can only I hope those two are in a better situation than I am now. The news headliners this morning already are uneasy to look at. I mean, hearing that I'm the most hated person in my own city isn't that much of a good thing, obviously.

Bored, I made my way into the living room area and plopped myself onto the couch. The television was already on, so I just listened to whatever was on. I couldn't have cared less.

_Citizens of Amity Park. As your elected mayor-_

I immediately hit the mute button and stared at the image of Vlad encouraging the crowd. Psych. I cared. But I didn't want to hear him say how bad I was when it was _entirely_ his fault.

Dropping the remote, I looked intently at the screen. Maybe this plan was stupid. I can barely keep myself sane enough to even talk. It's almost impossible, and I haven't even figured out what he was plotting yet.

The most I know about it that he wants to show the world that my alter ego is 'evil'. If he ever knew I was trying to trick him (and since I was an awful actor, he might have noticed by now), he was making it even _harder _on me to be his 'son'. I can't just waltz into a public area and start shooting people I know with a smile on my face, and yet I just did it hours ago.

The figure of Vlad transitioned back to Lance Thunder and I turned the volume back to normal to hear the regular news.

"Good riddance." I murmured. I didn't want to see his revolting face twist into a smirk, reminding me that I had serve – or play along as – his son. Concentrating on the screen, I was a little surprised to see one of the Guys in White agents shoving the frightened news anchor away to announce something. It wasn't _like_ them to just come out in crowded area like the one in front of Vlad.

_Those two teenagers are to be captured immediately and delivered to our headquarters to be held for questioning._

My ears shut down as I tried to recall what was just said. What two teenagers? I attempted to stop my trembling hands and switched channels. The next one was playing the same broadcast, but was delayed a few minutes after I had flipped on the TV.

_-as shown in this surveillance video here._

A quick replay of the actions that happened was shown on the screen. My heart stopped at the part where I had hit Tucker. The same reaction caused me to freeze on the spot like shown.

The front door slammed, interrupting the video, and I quickly changed the show to the 'Romance Channel'.

Vlad was back.

"Hi, Dad!" I greeted, turning around from my seated position on the couch, acting as if nothing had happened. "How was your speech?"

"Fine, thank you." He said, amused. "Did you do anything entertaining while I was gone?"

"Oh yeah." I replied, before my brain blanked out. What was I supposed to say? "I…went out and got a smoothie at the Nasty Burger."

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah!" I laughed, rubbing my neck anxiously. "Or actually...more like stealing."

I was a little worried that he might have seen through my horrible display of a good son, but the man chuckled as I laughed with him nervously.

"I was very pleased with your performance out there, little badger." He complimented. I forced a grin as I stood up and left the room swiftly for two reasons. One, I honestly didn't want to hear more about how he's very happy that I accepted him as my father when I'm not. It gets very irritating, and two: I had no more lies I could come up with at the moment.

"Um, is it okay if I get some sleep?" I asked him, sticking my head back in the doorway. Vlad nodded as he himself took a seat on the couch and turned the TV back to the news.

Trudging my way upstairs, I sighed heavily. I was beginning to think that this had been the worst idea I could ever come up with. It's easy enough to just _fool_ Vlad, since he could be pleased by just saying that my dad was a stupid oaf and that Vlad deserved my mom, but it wasn't as easy to get out of it. Reminded me of the time I first got my ghost powers. Incredibly simple to learn new techniques, knowing that I could start over again if I messed up, but when it came to the real world…it's more like life and death. This was an entirely different scenario, but I couldn't afford to act stupidly. Not once.

I didn't dare say anything out loud when I made my way to the bedrooms. All billionaires have a security system somewhere in the house, so I can't really state my thoughts out like a loud speaker.

It has been hard to explain how I've been feeling right now. It's like I've become my own worst fear. I've caused too much trouble for everyone I cared for. I guess the saying 'Everyone makes mistakes' just doesn't cut it. It's my _own_ fault that my two only friends are being arrested, not Vlad's – that is, until reality hits me.

...

...

...

_What in the world did I just do?_

* * *

><p>The world's <em>completely <em>turned on its head. Responsibility can only be given to the ones that push themselves to protect everything they hold dear, but what about _me?_ The one who lost everything when he _had_ that responsibility? Did that make me a bad person?

No. It's not how similar I am to someone who threatens the lives of everyone I know. As I said, earlier: Responsibility can be given to the 'special' ones.

Could I be 'special' enough to endure this? Being forced to attack loved ones for the sake of responsibility alone?

…

What was I doing? That wouldn't work. The words 'traitor' and 'duty' don't mix, so where was this leading me? I have to fight back at some point. Heroes don't make themselves turn against others to avoid _anything_. What was the answer to my problems?

…

There was only one word stuck in my head. _Wait_.

Could that be it? Patience _is_ the key element in surprise, right? I should be fortunate that I'll have an opportunity like this.

_Wait,_ huh?

The broad of daylight is flowing into my eyes. Dreams can only last so long, so I best not forget this. Nine hours can last a few seconds when devising a plan, I guess. Either my brain is slow, or an answer to my question took longer than I thought.

_Wait._

_Wait._

_Wait and dependability can come when the time is right._

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Posted on July 24, 2011<strong>_

**I have officially decided to write some dates up for self use. It helps me keep track of time on the last time I updated. You can just ignore them. Thanks for reading and I'll try and do another chapter soon!**


	6. Jazz

**Yeah, well, I'm beginning to have a bit of a writer's block, which is why it's taking me forever to update. I'm sorry for not doing so :(**

* * *

><p><strong>A Short by Jazz Fenton<strong>

* * *

><p>The single piece of reality in my mind was knocking all the thoughts out: A killer migraine. The second I fluttered my eyes open, the brightness of the room not only blinded me, but made my head hurt even more. I gave up and just squeezed them shut, hoping that I would get use to it soon enough. Whatever that switch did to me, I sure didn't want got through that <em>again<em>.

The last thing I remembered before passing out was Danny assuring our parents to get us out after he agreed to be Vlad's son. A cloud of hope came in my mind. Maybe they could finally trust him? Public enemy number one?

Sounds of talking were heard nearby as I perked my ears up to listen in. Mom and Dad. A little eavesdropping wouldn't hurt.

"…would help us?"

"I dunno, Mads. We can't really do much, since those two locked us in here."

"That Phantom kid's a liar." spat Dad. "Those ghosts are all alike. I never believed him the second he promised us out! The good for nothing…"

"I know, Jack." replied Mom to Dad softly. "He'll get what he deserves soon."

I instantly grew confused. It didn't make any sense. Here Danny was, promising them to get us all out, yet they still didn't trust him? They even rooted for him to win against Vlad! I sharpened my senses, using all my strength to ignore the pain being inflicted on my eyes and head, and sat up straight. Both parents went to look toward the source of movement.

"…Jazz?" said Mom, calling to me. It took a crooked smile to get a look of joy crossing their faces. Expressions lit up, they literally jumped and hugged me to death.

"Don't scare us like that ever again, Jazzy pants!" laughed Dad, squeezing.

"Oh, honey, I thought you'd _never_ wake up!" cried the other parent loudly. Typical. I patted her back to reassure her, but my mind went everywhere.

"I'm fine, Mom, Dad." I stated. "How long was I out?"

"To tell you the truth, honey, about three days."

My brain stopped functioning for that moment as if that were some sick joke. "Three _days?_"

Mom nodded and I stared at her in disbelief, though I let myself get serious.

"Ghost boy." I suddenly recalled. "What happened to the ghost boy?"

"Jazz, I know a lot has happened (and I mean a _lot_), but we can't explain anything with you asking so many questions! You're just like your mother when she's being overprotective!" pointed out Dad.

Mom shot her husband a menacing look. Said husband laughed. I took a deep breath and tried to interrupt their conversation.

"Here, Jazz," Mom said as she pulled a newspaper from under the floorboards. "It's a little out of date, but it'll tell you what you missed. I was barely able to steal from the desk this morning."

"Is it me," mumbled Dad to Mom. "Or does Jazz seem to rely on him more than us?"

"I heard that." I said to Dad directly. "And yes I do. You guys _still_ don't see the good in him, do you?"

Mom continued after him.

"He's done terrible things." she said in Dad's defense. "He's a _ghost_. What do you expect from him?"

"Oh I don't know? _To save people?_" I said sarcastically. "If you two are not going to trust me, that's fine. You don't know him the way I do."

Shoving the newspaper at Dad, I went over to the far side of the cage. I didn't need news to dissuade me from my own brother.

"Phantom's the least of our problems," whispered Dad to Mom once again. "I'm only hoping that Danny boy's pulled through. He's a smart kid not to come home."

I sighed heavily and let my tired body fall against the cold bars of the cage._  
><em>

...

"You're awake."

Danny Phantom and I locked eyes when I opened them. Did I dose off? Hmm.

He sounded a little relieved.

"Danny!" I exclaimed, getting up and running to him on the other side of the cage. The ghost boy cracked a small smile, but it faded.

"Get away from my daughter!" shouted Mom, running up to me and yanking me backwards.

"_Mom!" _I shouted as I scrambled to get free. _ "Let go!"_

I turned my attention to Danny, but he merely stared at us and set a tray of food on the ground.

"Here. Eat this."

"Uh...thanks..."

Was that really all he had to say?

"_Jasmine Fenton, you stop right this instant!_"

Shocked, I stopped fidgeting. Danny, also surprised at Mom's comeback, froze.

"Mo- Mrs. Fenton," said Danny with slight unease. "Can I please speak with Jazz? Alone?"

Mom narrowed her eyes at him, but let go of my wrist. Perhaps she thought that she had to play nice.

"Do anything fishy," threatened Dad, stepping forward. "And I'll make sure you'll be deader than dead!"

My brother could have rolled his eyes, but instead nodded as Mom back went to the other far corner of the containment area to avoid listening. They eyed us carefully, and Danny spoke in a hushed voice.

"Jazz, I−"

"You have a _lot_ to explain." I countered, crossing my arms. Danny didn't say a word as handed me a slip of paper. It was a little crumpled, but I took it.

"What's this?"

He said nothing. I stared at him intently, waiting for him to say more, but he stood up and walked back towards the exit.

"Wait, Danny!" I called.

Danny didn't even turn to look at me, but stopped just before he left the door. "Yeah?"

"Did you…really do all those stuff on the news?"

There was unusual silence that fell.

"I did." He concluded, leaving. I looked down at the note that was given to me. I gave Mom and Dad an indication that I didn't want to be bothered and they stayed where they were._  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>Jazz,<em>

_I'm not allowed to do this. Make sure you get rid of this message as soon as you read it. Rip it into tiny partials and scatter it across the floor, eat it, anything. Just be sure that Vlad doesn't read it._

_To fill you in on what you missed: Right after you fell unconscious; Vlad forced me to become his son. He threatened to hurt you guys more if I refused…so I had no choice. Don't worry, though. I'm not as 'evil' as he thinks I am. You know how horrible I am at acting, but I'm trying to win his trust. Oddly enough, it's working._

_The news explained about me terrorizing people, but please understand how desperate I am._

_Convincing__ the guy is harder than battling him, honestly._

_After I had accidentally hit Tucker, Vlad _instantly_ believed that I joined him. It was incredibly bad, but incredibly arguable situation._

_I can't even speak normally to you without his voice recording overhearing, for crying out loud! The cage is set to shock you guys again if I try and say anything about breaking you out, so writing was my only option I got. I guess the only thing I can ask you to do is to go along with the act and pretend to hate my guts like Mom and Dad (Though, they __really__ hate me). If Sam and Tucker ever get the chance to break you out, please tell them what I said. I already feel unbelievably guilty about all this._

_Mom and Dad would probably want to know what happened to 'Danny Fenton', so say I'm at Valerie's. Sam and Tucker are not in the best circumstances as I am._

_I love all of you, so please don't get into trouble when I'm not there._

_-DANNY_

* * *

><p>"What's the paper say, sweetheart?" Mom finally asked as she made her way over to try and read it. I panicked and hid it behind my back.<p>

"I-It's nothing! It's…just a copy a news article school," I improvised, ripping the paper into the smallest I can make it. There was an awkward pause.

"You're right. He's completely evil."

"I told you that ghost is no good!" announced Dad. "He's going to feel the wrath of Jack Fenton when we get out of this cage!"

I sighed and blew the shredded paper around the room. I hope Danny knew what he was doing.

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Posted on July 28, 2011<strong>_

***sigh* another day to waste updating a chapter. I feel good! Hahahaha!**

**Oh great. School's coming up.**


	7. Fugitives

**I'm getting something here. My mind has finally thought of a plot!**

**...Excuse me while I go and find my headphones to my iPod.**

* * *

><p>Just as I disconnected the ladder from off of the window, sounds of feet shuffling were heard back up in my bedroom. Tucker and I instinctively pressed our backs to the walls, literally hugging it to prevent the agents above from seeing us.<p>

"Mrs. Manson, are you sure that those two were in here?" asked one.

"I'm positive." she exclaimed. "The boy had a broken arm. They couldn't have just disappeared!"

"They must have known we were coming." grumbled another agent. Hesitantly, I looked up and saw one of the operatives look out the window. I held my breath as they scanned the area. It didn't take that much time before he recoiled his head back inside.

"That was too close." muttered Tucker. I nodded in agreement as I relaxed and listened in for any more useful information from the careless agents who blurted all their plans out loud.

"Agent K, get your men to ready to take off after securing the perimeter of the house. Those two can't have gotten far."

Tucker and I shared glances. Drat. We only had a few minutes to listen before we were discovered.

My mom interrupted the two agents during commands. "Ah, clarifying question."

"And what's that?"

"What _are_ you going to do with my daughter?"

"Don't worry, ma'am," The agent assured. "We're only going to ask them a few questions about the event that happened at the school. We are thankful for your support."

I couldn't really help but re-translate it.

_We're just going to capture them and squeeze out the truth out. Thank you for your efforts._

The window slammed shut, cutting us off from the discussion. At that instant went into panic mode and started to run for our lives. Oh joy.

"C'mon, Sam!" Tucker urged, pulling on my arm with his freehand. "We have to move!"

...

"And where do you think _you two_ are going?"

We froze. Grandma. I instantly went into 'fancy meeting you here' mode.

"Grandma! I was, uh, you see, we need to exercise Tuck's-"

"No need to say anything else, Bubeleh." she laughed. I stopped talking immediately, almost blushing. "How many times must I save you from getting into trouble?"

Tucker and I looked at each other. "Does that mean you'll help us?" asked Tucker hopefully. Grandma pointed to a nearby store, just a few blocks away from where we were.

"I may be old, but that doesn't mean that I'll be turning you two in for a stupid reason like a surveillance video." she said as she handed me a wad of cash. "Go buy some food for yourselves. My guess is that it will be hard to get later." she leaned over to my ear. "And I hardly doubt that you and that young man in the pajamas will slip by a crowd of people, especially if you're being searched for."

I cracked a smile while Tucker stared at us, wishing he heard our little conversation. "I think we can manage."

Voices approached our hiding area. We tensed.

"I'll save you some time." she hurried. "Hehee...this reminds me of my own youth...running from the cops..."

Giving her a quick hug, we raced out of the bushes and toward the buildings that were ahead.

"You're Grandma _rocks!_" exclaimed Tucker to me as we continued on. The second he finished his sentence, he widened his eyes in pain and doubled over. We barely passed the first block before Tucker collapsed to rest. _  
><em>

"_You had to act up n__ow?_"

"Can't...help it..." He said as he gritted his teeth. "Stupid arm's killing me and my weak body."

I looked around the street frantically and spotted an alley way just a few feet from where we stopped.

"In there." I indicated, helping the exhausted Tucker to his feet and into the passage. Setting him against the wall, I peeked back at the path we just ran. Luckily, we weren't spotted, but the agents successfully surrounded the building of my house. They looked discouraged to not see us around the area and I smirked.

"Great." mumbled Tucker. "We're wanted fugitives and running from the law. _Again._ The bad news is that Danny's not on our side anymore."

A flash back of the summer when we had to reconstruct the Reality Gauntlet came to mind.

"What else is new?" I retorted. "All we need to do is stop at Danny's. I'm pretty sure _his_ parents would actually help us instead of selling us out to the GIW like mine did."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting one thing," he stated. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton haven't exactly been 'out and about' lately. The ghost sightings (aka, Danny) increased tenfold and there's _still_ haven't been a sign of them!"

Tucker had a point.

"Maybe they're sick?" I suggested. Tucker looked at me as if I were an idiot. I sounded like one.

"For three weeks?"

...

The two of us went silent for a while. Deep in thought, I took a seat on the cold pavement next to Tucker. We _really_ needed some answers. It felt like we were just thrown into a prison without question. We needed a person who had the solution to this problem. Someone who knew what was going on and why. Someone who knows what happened to the _real_ Danny.

…

The only person we could ask was our very own Danny Phantom.

"Tuck." I sighed to him.

"Hm?"

"Danny needs to be put to justice. He's the only one who can clear our name and _we're_ the ones capable of capturing him."

Tucker nodded as he rose from his seated position and held out a hand.

"Let's just get this over with." He groaned when I grasped it. "I'd like to go home and play a game of _Doomed_ once we get him back to normal."

"Out of this _entire_ situation, _this_ is what you get out of is?" I laughed. "I'm beginning to think that your injury did more than break your arm!"

"What? I'm only saying the truth!"

"Whatever," I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Let's just get a new pair of clothes. It's very embarrassing that I have to walk out in public with you."

"Why? Because I'm a wanted man?"

"Close. You're in your PJ's."

* * *

><p>"<em>Get out<em>!" the owner yelled as he shoved us out into the street. People began to stare at our little skit as we were forced on the sidewalk. The owner grabbed the set of clothes we were meaning to buy and threw them at the ground. "_Take it and leave, you fugitives!_" he screamed. We wasted no time. Scooping the clothes up, Tucker and I broke for Fenton Works that was two streets away.

"That went well." joked Tucker.

"Completely." I replied sarcastically. We ran as far as our legs could carry us to avoid the people who were staring. It didn't take too long to lose them. My instinct told us to headed into the next alley to rest. I pulled out the baggy clothes from inside the plastic bag and threw on a shirt and pants on top of my regular tank top and skirt.

"Here." I said, tossing the bag to Tucker. He followed my example and did the same, now replacing his beret with a baseball cap. He shoved the beret under his shirt. Nearby us was a broken mirror. Tucker picked it up to look at himself.

"These clothes aren't _so_ bad." He remarked. "Though, I wish I had my beret. This hat doesn't feel the same."

"Save the talk until we get to Danny's." I hushed. We abandoned the plastic bag and strolled out into the street casually while craning our heads down to prevent eye contact.

"…So you think Vlad's behind this?" asked Tucker to me, breaking the silence between the two of us.

"Well, look at the facts. He's leading the people to believe he's a reliable person, he's giving Danny 'Phantom' a bad name, _and_ he sent the Guys in White after us. Anything to add to our list of ever growing stress?"

Tucker flinched. "No."

After a walk that seemed like hours (really it was a few more minutes), we finally arrived at the front doorsteps of the apartment. The foreboding and empty household soon gave us doubts about entering. I crouched over and took out the spare key from under the welcome mat, where it would be typically, and unlocked the door.

...

It looked like a mini earthquake hit the place. The entire house didn't have a single object that was recognizable.

"…What…happened in here?" said Tucker out loud, but not quite describing the scene.

"Looks like what I thought the answer to my question..." I murmured, stepping inside. "…led to more questions."

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Posted on July 31, 2011<strong>_

**Here comes the cliff hanger :O**


	8. Judgement

**I am completely sorry for not updating. So what is this? :O**

* * *

><p>The sounds of glass cracking from underneath my feet made me cringe with each step. Tucker had cleverly shut the door to avoid anyone passing to see this terrible sight. It was a smart move. Anyone would freak out at the sight of this house, anyway. I had a hunch that the techno-geek was just as worried as I was about Danny, but quiet about it. Where <em>was<em> everyone? Did…he do what I think he did to his family?

I walked over the fallen furniture, inspecting every area of the house that looked like a clue to what happened. I made my way over to a half broken table and brushed my finger against the wood surface. It didn't look like much, but considering the collected dust, I'd say the house had been like this for a while.

"Danny…" I muttered low enough for only myself to hear. What had he done?

"Sam!" hissed Tucker suddenly. "Quiet!"

I sensed Tucker's urgency and tuned in automatically. A tiny buzzing was heard, like the vibrating sound on a cell phone. I looked at Tucker and he pointed to the kitchen entrance. The noise seemed to be downstairs, so I motioned Tucker to wait while I went to check the surrounding debris. Maneuvering over the trashed house quietly was completely challenging, but we were soon able to make our way to the abandoned laboratory.

The vibrating was louder now, echoing through the room. Just as I flickered on the lights (they weren't as damaged as the looked), I noticed the Specter Speeder parked right at the corner of the room nearest to the portal. The lab didn't look _too_ bad. Not including the scattered papers on the ground as well as the ceiling wall having a huge hole in it.

"Great." I groaned. Tucker brushed past me and bent over to the ground to search for the source of the vibrating. The clattering noise appeared to come from a drawer inside a desk that survived the ransacked lab. Unsure of what was inside, I walked up, finding something that looked _too _suspicious.

"Tucker." I called. "Over here."

Tucker rose from his down position and strode over to my side. I uncovered the set of Fenton Phones that lay in the cabinet and handed him one of the earpieces.

"Someone's using them." stated Tucker seriously. "I'm having a huge guess that Vlad's broadcasting on that thing."

"You think?"

"He's the only one that knows how to use it besides us. Here," he said, placing the device in his ear. "I'll try and find the frequency to whoever's talking, so we have to keep quiet. They might hear us."

I issued a nod and placed the other earpiece in my ear as well. I could faintly hear the voices of the ones talking as Tucker kept tuning it. It became clearer and clearer until we were able to distinguish words.

"-Park. Just be sure not to _injure anyone_ like at the school, Daniel. All you need is to frighten them."

"…whatever you say."

My heart nearly stopped when the familiar voices of Vlad and Danny continued their conversation. So Vlad _was_ a part of this.

"Father?"

"Yes?"

"What about the Guys in White agents?"

"No need to worry about them, little badger. They are under _my_ orders, so you have no need to worry about them."

"…Going out."

The transmission ended, leaving the two of us shocked. Another set of questions popped in my head and I had to put my hand on my forehead to concentrate.

"Sam?" Tucker finally said. "Danny's…really a criminal, isn't he?"

All of me wanted to scream that the suggestion was stupid and that Danny was still the good old Danny we knew him to be, but here was all the proof that denied my conclusion.

"…yeah…"

I literally threw the Fenton Phone out of my ear and bolted up the stairs, past the kitchen and up the main stairway to the bedrooms. I hated Danny for doing this. There were too many things flying in my mind to think. Bursting through the door, I was amazed that his room seemed untouched. The ceiling and walls were still covered with all the NASA merchandise and miniature rockets still filled the shelves, along with books about astronauts. It was a world that was still Danny. Exhausted, I threw myself into Danny's bed and buried my head in his pillow. I didn't hold back on the tears that called me from the start.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Sam?"<p>

Someone shook my shoulder, waking me from my sleep. A yawn issued, and I sat up to rub my eyes. Smudges of eye liner streaked on my hand, but I ignored it. Tucker seemed a little taken aback that I was crying, but didn't comment. "Are we supposed to hide out here at Danny's?" he asked, changing the subject. "Because I can't think of a better place to hide in without the GIW discovering us."

I stared at him with tired eyes and sniffed. "I suppose. It's pretty off, though. You'd think they'd be looking up everything in this place."

"Yeah. But it looks like we're okay in here for now. I'm just wanting to ask the expert here."

The plan wasn't half bad. We could call this place our 'temporary hide out' until we can clear our name somehow.

"Sure." I replied, straightening up. I couldn't really imagine the consequence; knowing what we discovered. For all we know, Danny may have even _killed_ his family. How was I supposed to accept that?

"Are you okay?" asked Tucker, interrupting my thoughts. I turned away. I didn't want to cause more stress for him.

"It's nothing."

"If you're still upset about Danny turning evil part…then don't be."

I looked up at him.

"If you _really_ want to stop him, you gotta stop acting like you've given up." he said forcefully. The techno geek looked down at his broken arm sorrowfully.

"Even if he really _is_ evil, then I'd knock some sense into that dude, no doubt. Giving up on a friend isn't an option for me."

_So if I really cared for Danny…I'd make sure he'd stay away from turning evil, right?_

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Tucker. I haven't given up on him yet either. We'll get him back."

Tucker forced a grin. But then he looked to the door. "I'll see what I can do to repair the Speeder. I checked it out when you were..." he cleared his throat. "Well I checked out. And I found out the basic mechanisms are busted. You might need to help me since I… you know." He indicated his arm. I laughed lightly.

"Sure thing."

"The fridge and pantry downstairs still has some food, in case you were hungry. The microwave still works too."

I got up from the bed to find a reason to ignore his ranting about how hungry he was. We might survive here for a while…but our main focus is on saving Danny. He's not going anywhere until we get some answers.

* * *

><p><em><strong>-Posted August 3, 2011<strong>_


	9. Viewpoints

**Oh hey! As you all may know, I am having a HUGE writer's block, so I'm going to take a lot time developing a good plot. Sorry to all who wanted a long chapter, but this is all part of the master plan. *evil laugh***

* * *

><p>It's…not as easy to say this anymore. I'm lying to everyone, no matter how much of the truth will spill out of my mouth. I've already reached the point of giving up on trying admitting anyone anything. I guess Sam was right. I'm a stubborn teenager who's just trying to fit in with a normal crowd.<p>

My heart only sank deeper into my chest, causing me to almost wish it was a heart attack. Or anything to help me get rid of the aching that Vlad's caused. This wasn't the original scenario where the hero will prevail in the end. It's acting more like the ending to a fate that's already sealed.

Yeah. Too many fairy tales can _really_ fill a person's mind with such ridiculous theories, huh? Heroes can't control the future nor can they control any part of time (unless you're talking about Clockwork…but I'm not him.), but things won't always end up what you expected. Trust me, that's _not_ just an expression.

I was only relieved that Jazz was able to understand how I must feel right now. Not much to say when a monitor follows its client twenty four-seven. I'm not sure whether to say that Vlad bringing my family together was a good or a bad thing, but at least it was better than suffering alone. How horrible. The family that suffers together stays together? Pretty stupid analogy.

At least Jazz knew the truth, and that was all I needed to keep on going.

One time, out of curiosity, I asked Vlad that same question. As expected, he'd chuckle and say the usual catch phrase: "Some other time, little badger."

What exactly did he want with me? The excuse of "I want you to be my son" doesn't fit the bill as it did the last few days. Was it to make Danny Phantom another menace to the world? Do whatever he wants with me? Ruin my life?

That fruitloop. He's just teasing me with his power once more. I'd love to give him a piece of my mind, but I had other problems to worry about. Problems that were impossible to avoid...and I was completely growing more stupid the more I wait. The world's not wrapped around his finger like he thinks. I have to strike back at some point, but if I wasn't such a C student, then I would have had a strategy by now. As the quote from William Shakespeare (which I memorized just as well as President Roosevelt's): "Hear the meaning within the word."

If I were to interpret that into the current situation, the 'word' part, ironically, ends up being me. I never was the best at symbolism, but all that I can say is that I hope that Sam and Tucker can find the _real_ Danny Fenton, impractical as it may be. After I'd done all those bad things, it only made my fears worse on acceptance. Not only am I a wanted criminal, but now my two best friends…aren't going to be as forgiving.

"Daniel."

The sudden voice intruded my thinking once more as I cleared my mind of anything that may suspect my real thoughts. I calmed when I realized that the voice came from my headset. Doing a quick deep breath, I answered in a more casual tone.

"Yes?" I replied, hopefully not sounding suspicious.

"Where are you right now?"

"At the pier. Why?"

"Do your father a favor and go play around at the Park, okay? Just be sure not to _injure_ anyone like at school, Daniel. All you need is to frighten them."

I hesitated to answer. Was he _seriously_ forcing me to do something like that _again_?

_No!_ I wanted to scream._ Stop doing this! I can't take it anymore! When I 'agreed' to be your son, this was _definitely_ not what I asked for! Forcing me to go against the town that I've been trying to protect my entire life? That's out of the question!_

"…whatever you say."

I mentally smacked myself for answering it that way. I was still debating whether to still play along with this or give up and fight back, but I might as well.

"Um, Vl-I mean Dad?"

Drat! The iconic slip up!

"Yes?"

"What about the Guys in White agents?"

"No need to worry about them, little badger." He assured. "They're under _my_ orders, so you have no need to attack them."

I hated this. I don't know how many times I've said that, but it's so original that I can't think of any other way to describe how I feel.

"…Going out." I announced. The transmission ended as quickly it started, leaving me shaken.

"Can't do much now." I said to myself. Sighing, I got up from the dock and kicked up into the air toward the park. _When the time comes_, I assured. _When the time comes._

* * *

><p><strong><em>-Posted August 8, 2011<em>**

**Another short. Hope it's good!**


	10. Guest

**Don't forget to vote on my poll! I still need more votes! :D**

* * *

><p><em>Danny Phantom strikes again! Park area sabotaged-!<em>

The cubical television went static, interrupting the news broadcast. Frustrated with trying to tangle with the antenna, I hit the top of the television with my fist and the screen cleared instantly.

"Wow." I muttered. "Sam Manson, you're a genius."

_-terrorizing the citizens and attacking the public once more. Guys in White agents have once more tried to apprehend him in the middle of the rampage, but were unable to arrest for his crimes. _

A hand went to my face. Danny was frightening Amity Park all over again, causing the people to lose the trust that took us _forever_ to develop. What are we doing now? Wasting our time trying to fix a machine that I wasn't even sure could help solve our problem?

I sighed loudly. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to accept the fact that he really turned out to be this way. Could he have deceived us all this time we were friends?

_Maybe not. You know him better. He can't have lied to us for __that__ long. He's still as clueless as we think him to be._

"Did you get the TV fixed?" asked Tucker as he came from the basement and entered the kitchen. I glowered at him.

"Sorry." He sighed, taking a seat in one of the dining room chairs. "Standard question."

_The search for the teenagers, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, is still in progress. We just discovered that the two have escaped their own homes and into the community streets. Some witnesses claimed that they last saw the two buying clothes at the Amity Pit Stop a few blocks away from the house they just escaped. If anyone has any more information to share about this case, please contact the GIW immediately at their local number listed below. They believe that those two fugitives could lead the answers as to why our hero has turned against us._

With that, the broadcast ended and a commercial came on the screen. My eyes stared sightlessly at the flashing images. We were in as much in trouble with the law as Danny was.

He is _so_ going to get it from _me._

"Great." Tucker groaned. "More people looking for us. Just what we needed."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

"How's the work with the Speeder going?" I said, trying to change to subject.

"I haven't even got the chance to pick up a single tool, thanks to this." he pointed to his arm. "I only had the time to examine what needed to be fixed. Darn this cast! I can't even do anything!"

"And?" I pressed. "How long is it going to take to get it fixed?"

Tucker sighed heavily. "Three weeks."

"_Three weeks?_" I half yelled. "We have to put up with our best friend scaring off everyone we know for _three weeks_?"

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" countered Tucker angrily. "We're wanted by the _entire_ Amity Park! We can't just go out strolling out of our safe house without getting arrested!"

"If only your arm wasn't broken…" I grumbled.

"It's not _my_ fault that my arm is broken! _You_ were the one that would have had a broken arm, not me!"

My insides twisted at the mentioning of what happened. Tucker stopped for a moment to think about what he just said and instantly bombarded me with apologies.

"I didn't mean it that way, Sam! It's not _your_ fault that my arm is broken either. It's…Danny's."

I shot him a death glare. How could he accuse his best friend of breaking his arm on purpose?

"No, its not." I answered sternly. "It's Vlad's. The sooner we can get the Speeder fixed, the sooner we can stop him. Danny isn't at fault here. He's being manipulated into doing all these horrible things. And...again Tuck."

"What?"

"I'm really sorry."

"It's fine. Really."

I stood up from my seated position and left the room. "We can get started tomorrow." I said as I left the kitchen. Tucker closed his eyes, not caring to follow me in worry of his tongue slipping again.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." He said to himself. I made my way across the wrecked living room and sat on the third step of the stairs.

"Three weeks." I repeated. I _guess_ I could wait that long. Ever the optimist I was. My fists went to tug my hair in frustration.

…

What would happen if we _did _get captured? Would Danny still save us? Or would he leave us in the hands of the GIW to be imprisoned for questioning?

I can admit that I still trust him enough to be a friend, but I'm not as sure to if he'll even help us out.

_That's enough_. I told myself. _No more talk about Danny. Vlad's the one we should be focusing on. He's the one that's making Danny do all this. I'll refuse to believe that Danny had any part in his actions until I hear him say the words out of his mouth._

...

A sharp knock from the front door snapped me out of my thoughts.

Tucker's form appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, and that proved that this wasn't my imagination.

"In the basement." I hissed. The teen rapidly bolted to the safety of the lab. His loud footsteps were heard thought the empty house until a silence fell, telling me that he found a decent hiding place.

We had rehearsed this repeatedly. If one of us was caught, then the other could use the chance to get away and since Tucker was the one who was the weakest, I agreed to be the first to be captured if the time came.

Getting to my feet, I brushed my skirt and went to the door. It was now or never.

"Hello?" I shakily asked as I creaked through the door open.

"I figured you two would be here."

My jaw almost dropped when I realized who replied.

"_Valerie?_"

The former A-list member returned my outburst with a grin. "Hey, Sam."

My first instinct was to shut the door and jump out the window, but I let the door swing open to reveal what was inside the house. The grin on Valerie's face disappeared when she stepped into the house and realized the destruction.

"_What happened in here_?" she gasped.

"None of your business." I snapped, closing the front door. "First you show up without a word about why you're here. Then you burst inside, like some freeloader. Now you're _shouting_ to the world when Tucker and I trying to keep a low profile to hiding from the law? What's _wrong_ with you?"

Valerie stopped panicking and took a deep breath before she spoke once again.

"I came here when the news said that you and Tucker were seen at the store. Danny's house wasn't far from there, so…suspected that you guys would be hiding there."

"So are you going to turn us in?" I asked suspiciously. Was she working with the GIW?

"What would I get by turning you two in?" she questioned deviously. "I could get the answers to Phantom _without_ having to have those GIW agents in the way."

My eyes narrowed. So _this_ is what she was after. If I hadn't known better, she was going to blackmail us into giving her information about Danny in exchange for her keeping silent about us. Quickly, I tried to devise the best choice of words to get her to leave us without her reporting us to the GIW.

"…We don't have much tell you then." I lied, rushing to get to the lab. "I'll get Tucker."

Valerie raised an eyebrow me, but I urged myself to go down to pick up the techno-geek downstairs.

"Who was it?" Tucker asked, jumping out from behind the busted Speeder, a little relieved to see me. "Please tell me it was just some pranksters or something."

"It's Valerie." I said, making his spirits go down. "She's blackmailing us into telling her all of Danny's secrets for her to keep quiet about us hiding here." I explained. A small pause fell between the two of us.

…

"She _could_ help us, you know." Tucker suggested.

"What do you mean by that?"

Tucker didn't answer my question as he began to ascend the stairs back into the living room where Valerie was waiting. I crossed my fingers and tagged after him.

"Hey, Val." Tucker greeted, raising his free arm up. The second Valerie saw Tuck's damaged arm, she put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.

"Okay, now I need some _real _answers." She demanded. "What happened to Tucker? What happened to Danny's house? What happened to _Danny_?"

...

It didn't take long for Tucker to retell the story about what happened back when 'Phantom' attacked the school. He told about how he broke his arm and how we managed to escape here from my house. Valerie kept silent as he explained, as I anticipated, but when Tucker finished, I expected her to hassle us with more of her questions.

"You don't have to believe us." Tucker provoked. "But that's what happened."

"Alright." Valerie finally said after her long silence. "And what about this house? And Danny?"

Tucker nudged me to continue. Cursing mentally to myself, I knew I had to lie once again, so I improvised as I went along.

"When we got here, Danny and his parents were taken by Phantom and kidnapped into the Ghost Zone." I fibbed, hoping her 'I hate Danny Phantom' instincts would kick in. "We decided that Tucker and I fix something called the Specter Speeder, a vehicle that can help us get around inside the ghost realm. The both of us figured we could catch him and clear our name to the public."

I looked at Tucker pleadingly to stop talking about our plans so openly, but he nodded for me to continue. Ugh.

"We're planning to save Danny and his parents from Phantom's evil plot." I coughed out. Valerie stared at us for a while until the stillness was broken when she laughing out loud. Tears ran down her cheeks as she doubled over in pain.

"Man!" she continued, giggling. "I'm not sure I'd believe such a story coming from you two! I know you two are wanted and all, but for you to save him from a ghost as tough as Phantom? _You wouldn't stand a chance_!"

I felt my hands clench into fists and my teeth grit together. How dare she? Laugh at us when she couldn't even catch Danny once? I gave her a piece of my mind and let out what I was thinking.

"We said you didn't have to believe us," I growled. "But if Danny's in danger, we wouldn't care if we didn't stand a chance! You couldn't catch Phantom if you tried, either. At least _we're_ willing to give up our lives to save a friend while you just sit there and stare. We were hoping at least _you_ could," I swallowed hard. "…Help us out."

The girl gradually stopped laughing when she realized that the two of us were serious. She put a hand on her chin and looked deep in thought. I rolled my eyes.

"…Fine." She agreed. "I'll help you save Danny, fix your Speeder-doohickey and get food for you and whatever, but on one condition."

We listened intently, knowing what she was going to ask.

"You two tell me all of Phantom's secrets."

I glanced at Tucker for an answer. He merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't look at me." He said. "I'm just a guy with a broken arm. And besides," he leaned over to my ear. "We'd be able to finish in a week earlier if she helped."

_You aren't helping, you know._ I said mentally to Tucker. Valerie stuck out a hand to aggravate me more. Would I really let Danny's secrets out to her just to save him?

"So do we have a deal?"

I stared keenly at the welcoming hand that promised to solve our difficult lives and shook it. Of course I would. He's my best friend.

"Deal."

* * *

><p><em><strong>-Posted August 13, 2011<strong>_

**Goodnight everybody~**


	11. Complications

**Ahahaha...sorry for the long wait. School was canceled today because of snow (WOO!) so I decided to take the time and update. ****  
><strong>

* * *

><p>I rubbed my temples as the so-proclaimed "ghost hunter extraordinaire" handed me the wrong tool.<p>

_Again_.

Clenching my teeth was just enough force to prevent myself from chucking the tool at her head. If I wasn't working on the roof of the Speeder, I would have snatched that wrench and hit her by now.

"I need a _Phillips screwdriver_." I hissed, pointing at the object in her hand. "That is a _flathead_."

Valerie wrinkled her nose. "How was I supposed to know?" she grumbled back. "It would have made more sense just to say 'the plus sign screwdriver' instead of-"

The footsteps of Tucker interrupted our conversation and we fell silent.

"Hey guys!" he called cheerfully as he went on inside. A tray of food was carried with his free hand while he made his way over to us. He placed it on a nearby table. "You guys getting along?"

Valerie and I shared glances. I could almost hear the sarcasm in his voice, but something was telling me to not say the whole truth. I'm still surprised, but inspired by the fact that he's able to maintain a smiling face, given the circumstances, we decided to play along.

"…yeah." Valerie replied. "We're kind of on a truce until we can get Danny and his family back."

"Speak for yourself." I uttered to myself. Leave it to Valerie to make up an excuse like that. She and I narrowed our eyes at each other, but we knew that Tucker's injury was the only thing that was keeping us working together. Other than that, we would be tearing each other limb from limb.

"Well that's the best news I've heard in weeks." He sighed, taking a seat on the chair behind him. "How's the Speeder going?"

"Just perfect." Valerie answered with an exasperated tone.

"Well...we were able to get the rusted gears replaced," I reported. "But we still have to fix the doors and windows."

Tucker closed his eyes and clutched his head. Stress didn't only apply to one of us.

"Ugh. This is too much work!" Valerie complained, dropping the tool box. It crashed loudly on the ground to show her anger. "Where's the information on Phantom that you guys promised?"

I climbed down the side of the vehicle and went over to the two. "Hold on a minute, Valerie. We've got too many things to worry about than that right now."

"_Too many things to worry about?_" she roared. "_Danny Phantom is destroying Amity Park and you guys are the only ones who know how to stop him! Why don't you just tell me something_ useful?"

I blinked at her sudden out burst. We were all tired, but even Tucker and I don't argue about something as trivial as this.

"If you want to catch him so bad, then why don't you?" Tucker inquired, slightly irritated with her attitude. "He was attacking the school, and from what I've heard on the news, the park too. You could've stopped him! _Both_ times!"

Valerie looked at him with a death glare, but didn't reply as sharply.

"It's those annoying Guys in White agents." she spat. "They go by Mayor Master's orders, so it's not like I can really argue with them. They have the government on their side."

There was an eerie silence, but it didn't take long to realize that Valerie was lying. Her voice was a little too…shaky on the subject about not catching Danny. Breaking the barrier, I walked over to tray of food that was on the table and grabbed a vegetable sandwich.

Tucker remembered to not put meat in the sandwiches? That's a start.

"We aren't going to get anywhere getting mad at each other." I concluded.

"Then what do you suggest we do then?" Tucker challenged. I thought for a while.

"How about this," I said. "Once the Speeder is fixed, we'll answer each other's questions. Agreed?"

Tucker looked down sorrowfully and Valerie huffed.

"Well?"

"…Fine." Valerie complained.

"I guess…" Tucker drifted. I sighed, took a bite out of my sandwich and began to assemble the next door.

"Hand me the _plus sign __screwdriver_, Valerie."

Valerie gave me the right tool this time and held the door in place as I began to secure the hinges.

"When we're finished with the doors and windows, we'll have about another ten more days to fix the engine before we can fully use it." Tucker calculated.

Valerie and I groaned loudly. We had to wait another _ten_ days until we could do _something_ to help Amity? I'm not sure how many days I can keep _sane_ enough to watch Danny terrorize more citizens!

"First it was Casper High and then the park area. Where else would he possibly strike next?" I murmured.

"What did you say, Sam?" Valerie asked.

"I think it's bolted." I said aloud, changing the subject and getting up. Valerie tested the door. It swung back and forth like it normally did.

"Works like a charm." She complimented. "Nice job."

"…Thanks, I guess."

Perhaps she wasn't too bad, but that reason alone didn't convince me enough for her to be told anything about Danny.

Ten days, huh? I've put myself in danger's shoes countless times, but it looks like the best I could do is to sit on the sidelines. Hopefully those days will pass by quickly.

"Ten days till I'll finally get my revenge on that post-human conscious." Valerie swore to herself a little too loudly. My nails bit into the palm of my hands. The sooner I jump back into action, the sooner I can take care of this witch.

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Posted January 17, 2012<strong>_

**An entire year of slacking off. Sorry guys ^-^;**


	12. Father

**:) Let's hope this'll get all you guys back in the mood!**

* * *

><p>Insomnia. That's a word that I wish was never so sleep depriving. Literally. Staring at the moon didn't really help either, but at least, since it's out, it was no where near morning. Today wasn't exactly another stressful day, however. I'm no where on how I could defeat Vlad. <em>That<em> by itself was worse than Dash giving me a black eye.

Wherever Sam and Tucker are is beyond me, but I completely hope those two aren't caught yet. Vlad's plan of getting me to become evil is being upstaged by the missing appearances of my two best friends. It's entirely all over the news, even on the front of some magazines that I've never even heard of. I guess that's a little nice to know that his plan would be at a halt. A little.

But I have to admit, those two utter criminal geniuses at heart. I've seen it in action once before.

"Thanks guys…" I muttered to the wall. I have to give them _some_ credit. They're the ones who are buying me more time, after all.

…

A faint, but audible knock came from the door. What did that monster want with me at _one in the morning_?

"Are you asleep, Daniel?" Vlad's voice whispered from the other side of the door. He had that annoying habit of coaxing me with a baby voice. It was incredibly degrading.

"Not anymore." I pretended to yawn, sitting up. The door swung open and Vlad stepped into the room.

There goes my extra eight hours of freedom.

"Is it alright if I speak to you about the assignment you're doing tomorrow?" he asked, sauntering into the room. There's _another_ one of these so called assignments? Oh joy.

"What about it?" I answered, not changing my facial expression to hide the hatefulness in my heart. Vlad approached the bed and sat on the mattress I was sleeping on. I could already perceive that this is going to be a _long_ talk.

"I'm sure you're informed of last week's news?" he started in a casual tone.

"Kinda." I almost lied. "Other than the fact that 'Danny Phantom' terrorized the school, I'm not sure what you mean."

Something felt like he was trying to get some information out of me. I'd best be careful with my words. Vlad can make it easy to slip up my tongue.

Instead, Vlad chose to sigh and look at the moon that was shown through my 'bedroom' window.

_If he wasn't so hard to read, then it would be a little easier on me!_

"Well," he began. "Can you recall your encounter with those two friends of yours?"

"Sam and Tucker?" I inquired. What did this have to do with them? Did he notice their unintended distraction to the public?

A look of anger shot through his face. "Your little 'show' with them is what's drawing unnecessary attention from the media!" he shouted, getting up on his feet and accused at me menacingly. So he _did_ notice.

"_If you had been more careful about the security camera, then this wouldn't have happened!_"

I widened my eyes at his explosion and almost scooted a few inches away from the edge of the bed of where he was standing. My inside was screaming at me to say something. What should I do? What should I say? Should I argue with him?

…

The few extra seconds was long enough to trigger a small idea to flare in my head. I looked down in sorrow.

"…I'm truly sorry, Dad…no…father." I said, finding a better word to describe him. I tried hard not to meet his eyes so that he couldn't see through my fake acting. "I'll be sure for it not to happen again."

"It had better not." He grumbled, perhaps calming down a little. "Or else that troublesome family of yours is going to get it from me."

I controlled myself enough not to wince when he pulled out the switch once more, but didn't argue.

"I couldn't care less about them." I stated sternly.

It was Vlad's turn to widen his eyes, which was quickly switched to more controlled expression..

"And what you're saying is…?" he wavered.

"My biological father is an idiot." I concluded. "I'm glad that you're my new father, Uncle Vlad. You're the best one I could possibly have."

Vlad froze at my words and my brain went into a spasm with the compliments. I think this is the first time I've actually won a battle of wits with him.

…

Vlad actually came over to the bed and rubbed my head. It was really awkward of course, but also ironic because the last time I let him come within my personal space was when Mom and I were going to the convention in Florida.

"Honestly, Daniel." Vlad said with as a smile. "This is almost the first time I've actually had someone to depend on."

_Touché_.

"Father." I questioned. Man that word was getting irritating. "What are those friends of mine doing wrong, exactly?"

"They're taking up _your_ spotlight is what." He spat. "They're considered to have the 'answers to why Danny Phantom turned evil' or some random article name like that. It's completely ruining the plan I set out for you, Daniel."

His concern was terrifying. That would mean that they didn't have much time left until Vlad does something worse to their reputation. A shiver ran through my spine. I didn't care if those two are the most wanted in the entire Amity Park, just so long as I don't have to go through with Vlad's plan. Whatever he has in stock for me, I'm not sure _anyone_ will enjoy it.

"This is another reason why I had to come speak to you at _this_ moment." He said, turning his attention to me.

_Gulp._

"And what do you want me to do?" I tried to say confidently, but more stuttered than I wanted. Vlad either didn't notice or ignored my tone.

"Daniel, be a good boy and get rid of those two annoying rats for your father, will you?"

…

I instantly felt that bolt of lighting strike all the corners of my chest. Did he really expect me to do _that?_ I've already called him my father, said my Dad was an idiot, went out and _terrorized_ citizens in my own town. Now this?

_Play along, Fenton._ I begged my humanity._ Play along just a little longer._

I silently took a big breath and gave Vlad the kindest smile I could manage to show.

"So long as it makes you happy, Dad."

Vlad lit up to my answer.

"Ah, Daniel, you really _are_ becoming more like me." He chuckled, leaving the room. "Maybe one day you and I will do something…together."

"…Thanks." I replied.

Vlad pointed to the Fenton Phones that were placed in his ear lobe. "I'll be tuned in for your success."

"Tuned in?" I joked. "Why? You still don't trust me?"

Vlad laughed, but didn't answer. I hated leaving that rhetorical question out in our conversation.

The door gave a soft click and the atmosphere of the room lifted. Tired, I fell back into the mattress and rubbed my temples.

_What the heck did I just get myself into?_

* * *

><p><strong><em>- Posted January 24, 2012<em>**

**Alright. Until next time :)**


	13. Plan B

…**Ehehe… Sorry for updating so late. I've got a bunch of testing coming up this month, so I don't really have the time to be typing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the quote that would probably be recognized from Butch Hartman's show Danny Phantom (an episode titled Public Enemies)**

* * *

><p><strong>A Short by Vlad Masters<strong>

* * *

><p>I rested against the wall, exhausted, while the sounds of muffled questions leaked though the crevices of the door. I'd already given my second speech about Daniel's appearances around town, but it somehow isn't enough to satisfy them. Now teenagers galore are cheering about the cancellation of school.<br>Oh goodie.  
>The knockings ceased and I exhaled sharply though my nose. I marched over to the office. As I stepped into the room, my eyes instantly caught the window.<br>No surprise there. It was just as I suspected: overflowing with reporters and the flashes of cameras trying to get my attention.  
>I cursed, giving the cameras a look of irritation before closing the curtains sharply. It was a stupid thing to do. More knocking ensued.<br>Tired, I collapsed on the chair and leaned back. Another day, going back and forth between Amity and Wisconsin. Back and forth between Masters and Plasmius. Back and forth between relived and worried. Again.  
>Perhaps I shouldn't concern myself to something as minor as that. Since Daniel joined my ranks, everything has been running more smoothly than I first anticipated. His sudden change in heart had once got my suspicions up, but he hasn't once refused any of the unforgivable crimes I've asked. It's strange, but I <em>will <em>admit that he is the son that any father could ask for.

Speaking of Daniel, I hadn't checked on him for a while. My hand reached for the device in my ear and I turned the dial to the correct frequency.  
>"Daniel." I called from the headset. "Where are you now?"<br>"I'm still patrolling...signs of Sam and Tucker...checked west side." His voice was blocked by static, but fortunately coherent. Talking in a more annoyed tone, he added, "If only...Guys in White weren't after...alter ego...be easier to find them."  
>"Patience, Daniel." I instructed with a sneer. "Wherever they are, they can't move in public without causing attention. You best be found as Daniel Fenton around town than be chased around as 'Danny Phantom'."<br>"You're right." He sighed. "I'll try...find them soon."  
>"Don't let me down, Daniel."<br>The transmission ended and I was left in a room still filled with obnoxious knocking. After a few moments, phone on my desk rang. I happily answered.  
>"This is Mayor speaking."<br>"Mr. Masters." A deep voice said. "The troops finally surrounded the whole town and we are on high alert for any sight of ghost kid."  
>"And?"<br>"Sir. We're having our suspicions that he may be in alliance with a citizen by the name of Danny Fenton."  
>I stiffened. "And what causes you to believe that, Agent K?"<br>"Sir. He's been in our records labeled as 'Suspect at Large'."  
>My fingers instinctively tapped on the edge of my desk. This could be a problem. Daniel is the only one who can trick those two teenagers out of hiding, but if they captured him before that-<br>"Never mind him and continue on the search for Phantom." I snarled. "Hasn't anyone told you that the Fenton family is _missing_? Shouldn't you also know that Danny Fenton is among them?"  
>"O-oh, yes, right." The agent stuttered. "Sorry, sir. It's just that-"<br>"Don't you _dare_ bother me again unless he's captured." I interrupted.  
>"Right. Forgive me, sir. I'll inform you when we find him."<br>I put the phone back on the receiver. Daniel at the west side and the GIW surrounding the town?

I suspect he can manage long enough for me to begin phase two.

* * *

><p>Exerting myself to fly all the way to Wisconsin is very troublesome, but exhilarating at the same time. It was for the best, I suppose. Besides, I didn't want to run into Daniel. That would be more stressful for the two of us if his annoying friends figured out our alliance.<br>After three agonizing hours, I reached the steps of my house. I stopped to take a breath, then made a clone as I turned my actual self back into human.  
>"Be sure to not harm her too much." I instructed my clone. Plasmius nodded, not as worn out as I was with the flying.<br>"That would be the last thing we'd want, wouldn't we?" it chuckled. "She'll be on our side before Daniel will even know."  
>"Yes." I agreed. "Now get going. The more you stick around, the more strange it feels to be talking to myself."<br>Plasmius threw his head back in laughter and phased through the door. Ghosts are such sadists.  
>I followed through the door and continued to go after him around the house up to the secret entrance leading into the basement. He jerked his head in the direction of the lab and I nodded in approval. Plasmius dove down into the opening like a fish and began his job.<br>It was also at that moment that I decided to take a rest and regain my strength...

* * *

><p>"Let go of my wife, you odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy!" Jack demanded as his hands gripped the ends of the cell that held him. Jasmine was at her father's side, trying to calm him down but not letting her gaze leave mine.<p>

"Why, thank you!" I replied gladly. I yanked Maddie by her cuffs, making Jack fume. "But I'm afraid that Madeline will-"  
>"Will what?" Maddie insisted. She still struggled with the restraints on her hands and I was barely able to catch her before she got loose. It was too soon for her to be free. The courage she is displaying now shows her loyalty to Jack, which gave me a thought. A sickening thought.<br>"Oh come now! What's the use in telling you all?" I joked and slipped my hand in my pocket. Jasmine gasped and Jack cried out in anger when Maddie fell on the ground shaking.  
>"You filthy-!" Jack began. Jasmine clutched Jack's hand tightly enough for him to stop mid-sentence. Tears filled her eyes, but stood her ground.<br>"I'll take care of this, Dad." Jasmine said in an astoundingly calm voice. Jack almost protested, but I didn't let him.  
>"Let the girl talk, Jack."<br>The man stepped back and allowed his daughter to face me.  
>"What do you expect to gain from this, Vlad?" she questioned fiercely. "Danny's <em>will<em> stop you before you get too far."  
>"Daniel?" I choked. "<em>You still believe he is going to save you? <em>Haven't you seen what he's _done_? What he's _planning _to do?"  
>Jasmine didn't hesitate. "Even so, he wouldn't let something like this happen."<br>I smirked. She still didn't understand.  
>"You just watch him."<br>Something smashed the entrance of the lair, causing us to draw our attention away from our current conversation.  
>"What in blazes-?"<br>The door fell inward and smacked the floor, and from the smoke, rose a middle aged man with a blaster in his arms. Or should I say a_ dashing _young man with a blaster in his arms?  
>"Vlad!" Maddie yelled in surprise, barely getting up from her frazzled state. "How did you get in here?"<br>"Hey Vladdie!" Jack called. I could feel both myself and Masters groan.  
>"But I thought...? But he's not...? Why is he...? <em>What the heck is going on here<em>?"  
>Though the two were excited to see Masters, Jasmine was the only one that looked confused. She pointed her finger menacingly at the two of us.<br>"What game are you trying to play, Vlad?"  
>"We have no time for this, Jasmine!" Masters feigned urgency. He aimed the blaster at me. "Let the Fentons go, you monster!"<br>"_Mom! Dad! Don't listen to either one of them! He's trying to trick you!"_  
>Jasmine screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Jack ran over to her side and shook her vigorously.<br>"Jazz! _Jazz!_ _Are you okay? Answer me, please!"_  
>Masters was instantly on me and jammed the tip of the gun towards my head. He gave me a small wink before changing his expression to a more serious one.<br>"I'll say this again. Let the Fentons go. _Now._"  
>"Please don't shoot, Masters!" I pleaded. "I'll do anything! Just spare my life!"<br>"Jazz!" Maddie cried as she tried to inch her way to the cage. "Is she conscious, Jack?"  
>Jack ignored her question and continued to nudge her. Masters winked at me again and went over to pick Maddie up. I faded into nothingness.<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm truly sorry, Maddie." Masters apologized as he began to loosen her restraints. "I can only save one of you."<br>"Don't save me, Vlad. Jazz needs to be rescued more than I do." she pleaded. "We need to get her to a hospital!"  
>"I understand that Jasmine is in need for medical attention, but please understand that she will be in more danger if she leaves this place. Plasmius is more interested in weaker fugitives than stronger ones. Just come with me, Maddie, and we'll come back to save both of them. I promise."<br>Maddie looked down in thought.  
>"Honey, go with Vladdie." Jack said with a smile, making Maddie look up. "I'll be sure that Jazz will not get hurt until you save us. Just find Danny and we'll defeat this creep once and for all."<br>Maddie nodded and took my hand. "Let's get out of here."  
>I smirked.<p>

* * *

><p><em>"But Mayor Masters-!"<em>  
><em>"No, my dear. You are not allowed to participate in this, no matter how much you want to."<em>  
><em>"Mayor, forgive me for saying this, but I believe I can catch Phantom and prevent him from causing the town anymore trouble. Just let me have the chance!"<em>  
><em>"Miss Gray, I understand your concern about the town and the situation. Because Phantom is the one attacking us is exactly the reason why I don't want you to interfere. His actions are against the entire Amity, not just you.<em>  
><em>"Now, I know that you and Phantom have things to settle in the past, but please consider the people that he's injured. If you were a true ghost hunter, you would let the town decide the punishment before you set yours."<em>  
><em>"..."<em>  
><em>"So do we have a deal?"<em>  
><em>"...Alright. But once he receives his punishment...?"<em>  
><em>"Yes. He's all yours."<em>  
><em>"Then it's a deal." <em>

* * *

><p>- <em><strong>Posted May 7, 2012<strong>_

**Vlad is a master of manipulation. Dang…I wish I could do that with my teachers and their tests. **


	14. Borrowing

**A/N: Uh, hello! I'm kinda back from a long hiatus ehehe…so I guess I owe you all an apology for making you wait practically two years for this to be updated. I'll try and finish this at least by the end of this year. I hope I can keep that promise though ^-^;**

* * *

><p>Flying around Amity was exactly how I imagined it to be. Helicopter patrols, street guards and spotlights galore. Not that it was any more challenging than running away from the teenage paparazzi and their phones, but at least I was glad I had some stealth left in me.<p>

So my mission was to look for Sam and Tucker, somehow get them out of Vlad's picture and let the old man take all the glory with the wife of his dreams.

"Sounds as messed up as Skulker and Amber kissing in the park." I mused, taking one last peek from behind the billboard before quickly darting toward the next best thing to hide behind. Just one more street to go over before I would take sight of Sam's house.

An approaching light from above caught my attention and I shuffled to the ground with hands over my head, going invisible. I know, I know, wasn't necessary to go on my knees. It was probably because I've been antsier than ever with everything going on. No one would judge me, anyway.

Once I was sure that the skies were clear, I once again took the leap of faith over 56th Avenue before gaining view of the street Sam lived on. The second my feet had plopped on the edge of the building, my eyes had already craned left in the area that was her house.

Or should I say fortress?

Another helicopter whizzed by overhead and I immediately turned invisible again, as I was literally frozen to my spot the second I calculated the large amount of security that surrounded the perimeter of the home. Two guards were stationed at the front and maybe even two more in the back with cameras littering the walls and windows. They almost resembled the automatic plug-in fans. They even swiveled back and forth in two directions.

"Fantastic," I groaned. No way would Sam be back in her house, nor would she even go near it. I knew that they were suspects at large, but even trying to spy for clues seemed impossible. Tucker's house was probably the same.

* * *

><p>After fruitless hours of searching, I was so thrilled to have found a decent hiding spot in an alleyway I could have yelped for joy. The area was a bit smelly, but if a dumpster had placed itself just out of eye's view, then of course I wouldn't complain.<p>

I instantly dove downward and took the spot gratefully. My eyes happily slipped closed; the cool brick structure on my back calming my heated exhaustion. Without much second thought, my body automatically reverted itself back to human, aka, recharging mode.

"P-Please…I need to g-get home before my parents get worried…"

A snarl replied. "Like I care. My other punching bag hasn't been showing up lately and I'm getting stressed."

I mentally sighed. Dash Baxter couldn't get away from ruining my life, now could he?

I stood up from behind the dumpster and looked. A poor kid, probably a freshman, was backed against the wall with the jock's hand holding him just a few inches off the pavement.

"Hey," I called, making both teens look in my direction. "Get off him, Dash. He didn't do anything."

Baxter's expression melted into a grin, happily releasing the boy's shirt. "I knew you weren't in Europe."

The freshman yelped in fear as he scuttled away back into the open sidewalk and sprinted. I approached Dash challengingly.

"Wow. Kinda gullible of you, don't you think?" I teased. Dash immediately grabbed my wrists and proceeded to drag me out into the street. I followed with him, though a bit confused.

"H-Hey…! What are you…?!"

"I've been looking all over for you. Phantom shows up whenever you're around, and so you're the same reason why Phantom isn't coming back," Dash accused, taking his sweet time. "If I reported you to those people in the white suits, then maybe he would be back to being a hero!"

Back to being a…hero? I yanked my wrist back and pointed a finger at him.

"What makes you think I'm going to go with you?" I almost shrieked.

"Shut up!" he said, grabbing my hand again like he had a choice. "Let's go, Fenturd."

Instinct took over and I tugged on his arm, pulling him back. Superhuman strength came in handy sometimes.

The jock fell back with a shout and hit his bottom.

"Agh…you are _so_ going to get it from me, you…"

I forced my eyes green, which contrasted well with the darkness in the alley. He froze in place.

"Dash Baxter," My voice echoed just slightly as it usually did when I was a ghost. A smirk crawled on my face.

"F-Fenton…?" he asked shakily before regaining his composure. "U-Uh…I-I was just kidding…about the 'turning you in' thing, y'know?"

"That's Phantom to you!" I shouted lamely. Dash mustered a smile.

"Well…um…is it too late to say that I'm your biggest fan?" he laughed nervously.

A few seconds passed.

I supposed both of us looked kinda stupid, but an idea sparked in my head.

"Can I borrow you a few minutes?" I asked.

"What's that suppose to…?"

I took the chance and lunged into his body, overshadowing him quite quickly. It took a bit of thrashing and fighting, but overshadowing was more mental work. In Dash's body, I gave a sigh in relief after finally gaining control. No one would be looking for me now.

I walked out of the alleyway normally and headed for the only direction I thought I hadn't checked. Where no one really cared was missing. And the only place that seemingly looked empty if no one saw the smoke rise from the roof.

Fenton Works.

* * *

><p><em><strong>- Posted August 11, 2013<strong>_

**Please review! I think over the course of two years, I think I might have been able to improve on my writing a little bit xD**


	15. Drama

**A/N: It hasn't been too long, right? :)**

* * *

><p>"I knew home economics would pay off somehow…" murmured Valerie as she pulled the last package of bacon out of the refrigerator and tossed it on the side of the stove. I sighed as I placed my hands on the table. After a morning of constant arguing about food rations with meat and vegetables, it was decided that it was wiser to just stick with the meat. Tucker needed more food, as last night's salad wasn't nearly enough 'to fill a grown man's stomach' as he so proclaimed. The clock barely reached up to ten fifteen and my head began to ache from all the ticking.<p>

"So you don't normally cook at home, then?" I asked, trying to break the silence in the room.

"Not really," she replied absentmindedly. "Before I had to move into the apartment with my dad, I didn't find the time to do it. Or maybe never tried to. Until now."

I scoffed immediately. "Glad it was able to stick in your head."

The sizzling of the meat interrupted the conversation and Valerie cursed as the pot popped a splash of oil on her backhand. We minded our own places. I suppose that was the closest small talk we ever got to. Unless that curse was inflicted on me, of course.

"Oh sweet mother!" Tucker rang out as he appeared out of the basement in a childish manner. "Is that bacon I smell?"

"The one and only!" said Valerie enthusiastically as the teen decided to take a seat next to me. I only glanced at their full plates of animal carcass before I had to turn my head away in pure disgust.

"How much have you finished?" I questioned bluntly as Tucker ate. He looked up briefly from his meal.

"As of today? Not much."

"As I expected."

"Hey, you don't mean that as an-"

"Insult? No, but I'm beginning to run out of other things to do around here." I grumbled rudely, standing up in an instant. Was it the situation at hand? Or the meat? I didn't care to know. "And I'm going to go back to bed."

Tucker and Valerie looked at each other once when I last glanced at them.

"Is she alright?"

"Well…she didn't sleep too well last night…"

My bitter thoughts had the better of me and I felt the scowl come on my face. Everything was slow. Too uncomfortably slow. Valerie could only get away with so much food from the store before the GIW caught suspicion of her, not to mention Tucker and I. And maybe even Danny too was looking for us!

And although Tucker deserved his rest, I didn't know what else I could do but watch. Perhaps the best I did was fix the radio once it broke again, but other than that, it had been all improv from there.

The sound of reappearing particles was heard over my head the second I reached my seventh step on the staircase.

I froze. Ghost.

I cautiously looked up. A floating pair of Dash's feet pointed downward directly overhead, but other than that, the overshadowed jock didn't see me from his position.

Quietly as I could, I stuck my arm out in front of me to aim it correctly upward. I curved my wrist down pressed the button on the Fenton Wristband that never left my side.

"OW!" A loud cry shouted. That did not sound like Dash. In fact…

The second the shot was heard, I spotted Valerie in the kitchen, who seemed to have reacted too quickly to think. Which might explain the frying pan in her hands. Tucker followed just after with a fork in his uninjured hand. Like that would do anything.

The ghost rubbed his aching bottom and looked down to face all his opponents. Colors of green stained his eyes and there was only one ghost with that ectosignature.

"Danny," I practically hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" he replied just as harshly to try and counter my anger. He floated down to the first floor to meet us at eye level. "I've been trying to find you guys! You didn't have to shoot me you know…"

"I think we've heard enough of you and your lies." growled Valerie as she held the pan up like a mace. She nudged once at Tucker to signal him for the backup plan.

He immediately got the memo. I shot at Danny to grab his attention.

"Wish you could of had a spare one of those, Sam!" the other girl complained, but covered for Tucker when he left to the basement.

Danny-Dash almost retaliated before Valerie cleverly (or at lest I think cleverly. It could have been last minute) threw the pan at his head. Being as skilled as he was, which wasn't surprising, he ducked in time to avoid it.

"QUIT IT!" He shouted with hands on his head. "I NEED TO-"

With another shot from my wrist, I aimed this time for his chest. Missed again.

I clicked my tongue as Valerie smirked at me. "Nice shot."

"Yeah well, at least I have a weapon."

"Can't you guys listen to me for once?" grumbled our enemy. "You know what..."

With a quick motion, he released his hold on Dash by placing him upstairs on the second floor. The form of the teenager flowed out of him like smoke as his glowing eyes glared back at us menacingly.

I was skeptical at that action. Would an evil Danny do that? Let Dash safety stay on the second floor?

"I just need you guys to hold still a minute!" He shouted, flaring his hands up with green energy. His hand went to point at my direction, but by then, Valerie had dragged me behind a propped up table she had set up in a matter of seconds.

"...at this rate, he'll kill us for sure." I mused.

"You think?"

Danny snapped his head to the table as he was about to shoot. "That depends on who you're talking to."

Yet again, another voice intervened. "I'm sorry about this, dude, but..."

The ghost's energy dispersed to find the source of the voice. Tucker, standing underneath where he was floating, had a thermos in hand. His aim was shaky but stable enough to not fall out of his hands.

"...it's for your own good."

Danny immediately looked down to his blind spot and barely hoped out of the way of the blast. Tucker widened his eyes when he began to swoop for him.

"Tuck, you...!"

But instinct grabbed me last second as I finally nailed my shot to smack the side of Danny's head.

He tumbled across the floor, hitting the wall with the crash of two picture frames. Valerie and I sprung into action, taking Tucker's sides. I held my Wrist Ray, Tucker his Thermos and Valerie her karate. Like that would do anything.

As Danny groaned and got up again, something fell out of his ear. My eyes scanned to the broken device. His Fenton Phone earpiece fell out. And a human Danny revealed himself with hands up after he noticed.

"...don't shoot..." He said in a voice so afraid it was too real to be feigned. "I-I can explain. Instead of being...interrupted for the fifth time..."

"...what...Fenton...?!"

Tucker and I looked at each other before lowering our weapons.

"You better have a good explanation." we said in unction.

* * *

><p><em><strong>-Posted March 18, 2014<strong>_

**A/N: Three years. Wow. I really gotta hustle up -_-**


End file.
